Hen blinder



p 20, 1955 s. BARTNER 2,718,213

HEN BLINDER Filed July 12, 1954 FIG.2

INVENTOR Sol Borfner BY United States Patent HEN BLINDER Sol Bartner, New York, N. Y.

Application July 12, 1954, Serial No. 442,834

7 Claims. (Cl. 119-97) The present invention relates to hen blinders, of the type secured on the beak of a hen or other fowl to obstruct its view in a forward direction for the purpose of inhibiting its picking on other fowl, while permitting it vision in a downward direction for feeding purposes. The present invention is an extension of and improvement over the invention described and claimed in copending application Serial No. 371,653, filed July 31, 1953, for a Hen Blinder.

In my said copending application I have described and claimed a hen blinder the primary characteristic of which is that the pin by which it is secured to the beak of a hen is permanently and laterally swingably secured by one end to one of the blinder elements and releasably engageably by its other end to the other of the blinder elements, whereby the operation of holding the blinder, piercing the hens beak and latching the securing pin in place can all be accomplished with one hand, so that a single person may carry out the operation, without the need for any assistance, by holding the hen under one arm and the blinder in the hand of the other arm with which he secures it in place.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a hen blinder that may similarly be held and attached in place with one hand; but in which the attaching pin, though permanently secured on the blinder is not freely swingable, so that the blinder possesses additional advantages of greater ease of manipulation during the attachment operation, because of less likelihood of fumbling and more fixed resistance against turning during the beak piercing operation.

The present invention also contemplates the provision of a hen blinder of the character described which is of greater simplicity of construction, is easier to assemble and more economical to produce.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the hen blinder of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawing and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a rear elevational view of one embodiment of a hen blinder of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the same, as viewed from one side thereof; and

ig. 4, is a side elevational view of the same, as viewed from the other side thereof.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawing, the hen blinder of the present invention, which may be formed of any suitable material conventionally used for the purpose and by any desirable method, as by molding from a synthetic plastic, but is preferably inte- 2,718 ,2 l 3 Patented Sept. 20, 1955 grally formed by stamping from sheet metal, comprises a pair of shields or blinder elements, 10 and 12, of any desired suitable conventional shape, such as the one illustrated, in which they are wider at the bottom and narrow towards the top and have straight, vertical inner edges, 11 and 13, respectively, and curved outer and bottom edges. The shields 10 and 12 are joined in spaced relation, in substantially a common plane, by a relatively narrow integral bridge, 14, connecting their lower inner edge portions; such bridge 14 being preferably slanting inwardly or rearwardly upwardly, to enable it to conform to the slant of a hens beak.

Each of the shields 1t) and 12 is formed with a rear- Wardly directed flange, 16 and 18, respectively, extending from its inner, vertical edge portion, 11 and 13, respectively, and one of the shields, as It), is also provided with a flange 20, extending preferably slantingly, outwardly and rearwardly from its outer edge portion 21.

The blinder is provided with means for fastening the same to the beak of a hen, or the like. Such fastening means comprises a stiflly resilient rod element, preferably a stiftly resilient metal wire pin 26, which is passed through and centrally supported in an opening 22, formed in the flange 16, at a suitable height above the bridge 14-, which, in blinders of conventional height, is about midway of the height of the shield. The pin 26 is relatively fixedly secured or anchored, by one end, to the shield 10, at its outer edge portion, as to the flange 29. The end of the pin 26 may be secured to the shield 10 in any desired, suitable manner, preferably by means of an opening 28, formed in such flange, at a lesser height from the bridge than the opening 22. The end of the pin 26 is passed through such opening 28 and is secured or anchored therein as by flattening portions of the pin immediately to each side of the flange 29, to prevent withdrawal from the opening in either direction, in a manner readily understandable, or, as illustrated, by bending the end of the pin 26 about the edge of the opening 28, to form the retaining loop 3%.

By this arrangement, the pin 26 is permanently and relatively rigidly held or anchored in place on the blinder in position whereby it slants both diagonally thereacross,

' in an upward direction, and divergently, in the direction 0f the shield 12, past the rear face of which the free end portion of the pin 26 partly extends.

Means for releasably engaging the free end of the pin 26 are provided on the rear face of, the shield 12, in

spaced relation thereto and preferably out of alinement with and closer to the rear face of the shield 12, than the portion of the pin 26 that passes it. Such pin engaging means may comprise latch or hook means that are preferably integrally formed with the shield 12, as the hook 23, provided by the approximately L-shaped slot 24, formed in the flange 18 and opening into its edge.

To attach the blinder in place, on the beak of a fowl, it is grasped in one hand and the free end of pin 6 is first pushed through the soft spot or breather openings in the beak and the projecting end is then bent downwardly and inwardly, toward and into the slot 24, under the book 23, wherein it is resiliently tightly held in place when released. The foregoing manner of supporting the pin on the blinder maintains the pin relatively rigidly during the piercing operation, enabling such operation to be accomplished with greater ease and rapidity, because it makes it easier and more convenient for the operator to hold the blinder steady during the operation and to direct it and press it accurately in place, without fumbling. The divergent mounting of the pin also provides clearance between the pin and the blinder for passing over the portion of the beak above the breather openings. This clearance may be enhanced by tapering the upper por- 3 tion of flange 18, above the opening of slot 24, as illustrated.

It may here be stated that the flange 20, in addition to serving as an anchorage for one end of the pin 26, also serves to prevent the catching or snagging of the blinder in the links of chain feeds, such as are frequently used on poultry farms, thereby avoiding damage to the blinder and possible injury to the fowl.

This completes the description of the hen blinder of the present invention. It will be apparent that such hen blinder is of highly simplified construction and may be economically produced and assembled, and, as the parts thereof are permanently connected, avoids the possibility of the loss of parts that may require replacement, and that it, may, therefore, be repeatedly used, with great economy. It will also be apparent that such hen blinder, because of the steady, rigid and firm anchoring of its attaching pin, may be easily, rapidly and conveniently secured to the beak of a hen or other fowl, by a single operator, without any assistance. It will likewise be apparent that the hen blinder of the invention is strong and durable.

It will further be apparent that many modifications and variations in the hen blinders of the present invention may be made by any one skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

1. A hen blinder, comprising a pair of eye shields each having a front face and a rear face, abridge connecting said shields along their lower portions in spaced, side by side relation to one another, a resilient pin fixedly secured to one of said shields in spaced relation to the rear face thereof and in position to extend in spaced relation past the rear face of said second shield, and means on said second shield spaced from the rear face thereof for releasably engaging said pin.

2. A hen blinder, comprising a pair of eye shields each having a front face and a rear face, a bridge connecting said shields along their lower portions in spaced, side by side relation to one another, a resilient pin fixedly secured to the rear face of one of said shields in spaced relation thereto, a portion of said pin extending past and to the rear face of said second shield, and means on said second shield, spaced from the rear face thereof, for releasably engaging said pin; said pin and said pin engaging means being out of alignment when in unengaged position.

3. A hen blinder, comprising a pair of eye shields each having a front face and a rear face and inner and outer edge portions, a bridge connecting said eye shields along their lower portions in space, side by side relation to one another, each of said shields having a rearwardly directed flange extending from its inner edge portion, the flange of one of said shields having an opening formed therethrough, a resilient pin passed through said flange opening and fixedly anchored by one end to the outer edge portion of said last named shield, a portion of said pin extending in spaced relation past the rear face of the other of said shields, in spaced relation thereto, and means on the other of said shields, spaced from the rear face thereof, for releasably engaging said pin.

4. A hen blinder, comprising a pair of eye shields each having a front face and a rear face and inner and outer edge portions, a bridge connecting said eye shields along their lower portions in spaced, side by side relation to one another, each of said eye shields having a rearwardly directed flange extending from its inner edge, the flange of one of said eye shields having an opening formed therethrough, the flange of said other eye shield having hook means provided by a latch slot formed therein opening into the edge thereof substantially on line with said opening, a resilient pin passed through said opening and fixedly secured by one end to an outer edge portion of said first shield, said pin extending past the rear of said second shield and releasably engageable within said hook means.

5. A hen blinder, comprising a pair of eye shields each having a front face and a rear face and inner and outer edge portions, a bridge connecting said eye shields along their lower portions in spaced, side by side relation to one another, one of said eye shields having a rearwardly directed flange extending from the inner edge portion thereof and a second, rearwardly directed flange extending from the outer edge portion thereof, each of said edge portions having an opening formed therein, a resilient pin passed through said openings and fixedly secured by an end portion in the opening of said outer flange, said pin extending past the rear face of the other of said eye shields, the other of said eye shields having a rearwardly directed flange extending from the inner edge portion thereof and hook means provided by a latch slot formed in said flange opening into the edge thereof and adapted to releasably engage said pin.

6. The hen blinder of claim 5, wherein said opening in said inner flange of the one of said eye shields and the slot opening of the flange of the other of said eye shields are at a substantially even distance from the bottom of the blinder and the opening of the outer flange in said first eye shield is at a different distance from the bottom of the blinder, whereby said pin is normally maitnained out of register with the opening of said latch slot.

7. The hen blinder of claim 5, wherein said opening in said inner flange of the one of said eye shields and the slot opening of the flange of the other of said eye shields are at a substantially even distance from the bottom of the blinder and the opening in the outer flange of said first eye shield is at a lesser distance from the bottom of the blinder and closer to the rear face of said first eye shield than the opening in its other flange, whereby said pin is normally maintained at an angle to said blinder and out of register with the opening of said latch slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,018,796 Layton Oct. 29, 1935 2,079,107 Cridlebaugh May 5, 1937 2,130,102 Rudolph et al. Sept. 13, 1938 2,181,070 Rudolph Nov. 21, 1939 

